The Elder Scrolls V: SKYRIM
by Rayne101
Summary: This tells the tale of a young Nord Companion returning home from a long rescue mission. She finds her homeland in a state of unrest. Stories of a civil war brewing between the Empire and Ulfric Stormcloak; what else will destiny hold for her? Grief, despair, and loneliness? Or something greater. Dawnguard DLC included. Bethesda owns the series I just play the game :).
1. Homecoming

_**Hey guys, brand new story here from yours truly. For all of you Skyrim lovers out there, this one's for you. What this story will cover is the main story line, the Dawnguard DLC and the Companion faction storyline. I always join the companions in the game so I wanted to try something out. ENJOY! :)**_

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Chapter 1: Homecoming

Long ago in the war torn land known as Skyrim, a young Companion of Whiterun makes her way home from the island of Solstheim. Dressed in armor from head to toe, she stands at the bow of the ship and thinks about returning to her homeland. Being a Nord meant you were firmly held to your homeland. She of course objected to the task that was given to her by the harbinger, both because of her age and because of her tight hold to the land of Skyrim. Rayne Whitemane was the ripe age of 20 when her father and harbinger of the Companions, Kodlak Whitemane asked her to go on a rescue mission in the foreign land.

Kodlak himself knew that his daughter was one of the best in the Companions, a close second behind Aela the Huntress. Even in her young age Kodlak knew his daughter would be able to do right by him in this mission.

With the wind blowing through her short red hair, Rayne closed her green eyes and took a breath of air through her nose. She realized she was coming close to home. Skyrim was just along the horizon and nothing felt sweeter. A Nord could always tell by the smell of the air if her home was close. By the look of the land around her Rayne could tell that the ship and her crew were coming close to the port of Windhelm, home to the Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak. From the letters she had received from her father and others in Whiterun, she knew that the young Jarl was indeed looking for trouble. The girl recently heard of unrest in the land as it was. Stories about dragons were being whispered all around Skyrim. Rayne shook her head at the nonsense.

Her brothers in arms often spoke of the dragons in stories they were told as children. Their grandfathers often told them of the great battle between the dragon Alduin and the Nords of old. No doubt their grandfathers heard it from their grandfathers and it might have went back generations for all she knew. But of course these were just stories. Legends of hero worship throughout the years since this land was discovered.

Rayne felt a nudge at her side moments later. A cold and wet nose bumped her hand and she smiled. She looked down to the creature next to her and smiled widely. "Daemon." She whispered to her canine companion. A large husky with dark black fur, bright blue eyes and pointy ears sat down and looked up at her waiting to be regarded. Rayne knelt down in front of the creature and scratched behind his ears. "Keeping our guest company boy?" Daemon stood and barked only once in affirmation. He twirled around in excitement and when Rayne stood on her two legs, he hopped and put his front paws on the girls' armor covered chest. Rayne laughed loudly as Daemon's playful side came out. Of course this was done outside of Jorrvaskr, she feared that some of the older and wiser Companions - which would be her father, Skjor, and Aela - would have a problem with the energy her dog held.

"We just have to escort her back to Helgen and then we can go home boy." Rayne said with a smile. Daemon panted excitedly and jumped down from his owners chest. He ran over to the stairs leading to the lower deck and she followed him. As the dog went down the stairs, Rayne held on to the rail and slowly went down the steps. They were covered in water and sea weed from the water beneath them. Daemon led the girl to her cabin and nudged the door open with his nose. After he went in, Rayne laughed and shook her head before opening the door with one hand.

Sitting on the bed, was a young girl. No older than 14. Her father, who is a resident of the village of Helgen begged the Companions to rescue her from slavers. The girl was taken while her father was fixing a shoe on his horse on the side of the road. The two were heading to the market in Solitude when a group of Redguard men as well as Orcs grabbed the girl. It took Rayne months to track the gang over to the island, but she made it in time before any real damage was done. The gang had just arrived at Solsthiem and was about to sell the girl to a large barbarian. Rayne could see, from higher ground, the men drag her though massive crowds with nothing but rags on her body and a sack on her head. She became so outraged and when the money and the girl was being passed to one another, shot an arrow through the satchel. Through the confusion, she ordered Daemon to attack the barbarian.

The large man screamed as the dogs sharp teeth went through skin, muscle and bone. The slavers watched in horror as their potential customer was being attacked by a large perhaps feral dog. Rayne had a wicked grin on her face as she garnished her weapon and shield. Her sky forge steel sword gleamed in the sunlight as she attacked these men; or rather worms in her opinion.

It was mere moments before the men were either dead or badly wounded. The ones that left with their lives scurried like rats back to their burrows. As Rayne wiped the blood from her sword, she went to the girl who was on the ground and covered in dirt. She pulled the satchel off of her head and offered the girl her hand. The young girls face was covered in tear tracks and tiny marks from a thin blade. Rayne assumed that she tried to escape before the journey across the water and as punishment, the slavers cut her face. She growled in anger towards these men and wished she had killed all of them, but that was not the mission given to her. Her mission was to return the girl to her father.

Now Rayne was standing in front of the girl who sat on her bed. She was shaking with fear, not really knowing if her savior was just that or another enemy. Rayne slowly moved to sit down next to the girl. She put up no resistance. "You have nothing to fear from me." The Companion said, while looking straight in front of her. "I am a Companion of Whiterun. Your father came to us asking to rescue you." The young girl looked at the armor adorning Rayne's body and relaxed slightly. The wolf armor and the fact that she didn't kill her yet were definite reasons for her to be thankful to this woman for saving her. This made the girl find her voice no matter how light it was. "Thank you." She whispered.

Rayne looked at the girl out of the corner of her eye and nodded. "I couldn't just sit by and let you get sold into slavery, now could I?" She said with a hint of mirth. From hours of crying the girl wiped the tear tracks on her face. She giggled a little at Rayne's joke. "No, I suppose not."

"LAND HO!"

The lookouts' voice was heard all throughout the ship.

Both Rayne and the young girl bolted off of the bed and ran up the stairs to the upper deck. Rayne looked up to the crows nest for verification that there was land near by. The lookout in turn, pointed out to the buildings littering the horizon. She put her fingers to her lips and whistled. Daemon ran up the stairs and to his masters' side.

"We're home boy." She whispered to her companion. Then she ran up to the bow and stood there. She marveled at the scene before her.

Windhelm was just there in the distance. It was almost as if she could reach out and touch it. Rayne could feel herself being pushed by the wind gusting behind her. She grabbed the line that was supporting the sail. At seeing the horizon she slowly reached out with an open hand and once her arm was fully extended, she gripped at the familiar essence of it. "I'm home." She whispered to herself. "Take us into port captain!" Rayne turned to the man standing at the helm of the ship and gave him a dazzling smile. "Nice and easy now."

Rayne took the slight step that lead off of the bow and walked past the captain of the ship. She patted him lightly on the shoulder and gave him a nod.

Heading back down to the lower deck, Rayne thought about how good it felt to be home again. It was like a gigantic weight lifted off of her shoulders; like her breath had suddenly come back to her. She spotted her helmet on the end table next to her bed and picked it up gently. It was in the shape of a wolfs head and made of the best steel in all of Skyrim. There were holes in the eyes of the wolf, but if you fiddled with the jaw of the creatures face, you would find a sliding hatch that would open for Rayne's face would show when she wished it. It gave it a classier look in her opinion.

She smiled at the design of it. The older Companions Vilkas and Farkas came up with it. Rayne wasn't a bit surprised when Eorlund Grey-Mane was able to craft the armor and make a simple-silly-idea into reality. "I am a warrior and I will die as I lived-in glorious battle." She said the Companion creed aloud and bowed her head to the wolf in her hands. Rayne put the helmet back on the end table for a moment to get her weapons and belongings. She tied the sword that was in its scabbard to her waist and placed her long bow on her shoulder. She turned her sights back to the missing piece of her armor and carefully placed it on her head. She slid the hatch up so that her face was showing and she blinked at the sudden change of lighting.

Rayne made her way out of the room, but not before grabbing her satchel. She swung it onto her back and walked up the stairs to the upper deck. The ship was just about to head into port and she smiled widely at the sight of people walking on the deck. They were preparing for the ship to dock. The girl ran to the starboard side of the ship and stood on the rail while holding on to the rigging.

She heard Daemon's happy bark behind her and she looked over to him. The dog was spinning and chasing his tail for a moment before running over to Rayne's side. He stood on his back paws and leaned onto the rail. He panted excitedly as the walls of Windhelm came closer.

"REDUCE SAIL!" The captain yelled to his crew.

Out of the excitement, Rayne jumped off of the rail and helped the crew with the rigging of the sails. As one side flew in the wind, she looked to the other side of the ship and saw the same thing happen with their corner. Rayne looked up and watched the crew located on the mast, roll the large cloth into the beam. The speed of the ship decreased and the villagers on the dock were smiling and waving at them and the crew. "They're welcoming us home boy." Rayne said as she knelt down and scratched the dog's head.

"BETHANY!" A voice yelled to the ship. Rayne looked further down the deck and saw the girl's father running closer to them. She heard light footsteps from the girl come closer to the rail. "Father?!" Bethany yelled to the man. She reached out to him and soon they were docking. The ship was close enough to the platform so that Bethany could grasp her father's hand. Rayne stood by her side and watched the contact. She smiled lightly at the sight and hoped that this would be the welcome she received when she returned home.

Both parties were crying uncontrollably and when the gangplank lowered on to the deck, Rayne touched the girls shoulder and motioned toward the pathway to the deck. Bethany shot forward and hugged Rayne around the neck. The young Companion was surprised but relaxed and reciprocated. She wrapped her arms around the young girl's waist. A few moments passed and then Bethany ran over to the gangplank and into her father's arms.

Rayne ventured down to the deck and heard the pitter patter of Daemons paws not far behind her. They made their way over to the father and daughter pair. When Bethany's father saw them walk up to him, he grasped the girls hand firmly and gave his thanks. "Oh thank you so much Companion. You have no idea what you have done for me." He let go of her hand and hugged her around the waist not minding the uncomfortable feeling of the armor surrounding her body. Once he let her go, he said, "Ever since her mother died, she's been my life. No amount of words will be able to say how grateful I am to you."

Rayne patted the man on the shoulder and said, "Try not to lose her this time alright?" The man chuckled at the joking tone she took and shook his head. "No Companion. Not ever again." He turned to his daughter then. "Come on Bethany. I have the wagon all prepared for your return." He held out his hand for the girl to take; which she did quickly.

Before they got too far, Bethany stopped her father and ran back to the armored Companion.

"I really want to thank you for saving me. If not for you, I don't know where I'd be right now." Rayne slowly took her helmet off and bowed slightly. "It was my pleasure, my lady." Bethany batted her eyelashes and looked shy for a moment. What she did next was definitely surprising. She stepped up on her toes and kissed Rayne lightly on the cheek before running off back to her father. At this point the warrior didn't know what to do, so she just covered the spot on her cheek where the girl's lips were. She stood there for a moment trying to determine the best course of action. When Bethany turned and waved at the stunned Companion, Rayne waved back.

She watched for a few moments longer, making sure they leaved the port unharmed. When they got on to the main road, they walked and she watched until they were out of sight.

Rayne looked down at Daemon and shrugged her shoulders. She sighed and put her helmet back on before saying, "Well boy, let's head home." Daemon barked happily and followed his owner to the stables. The girl rented a painted horse from the stable master and walked to the end of the cobbled road. Then she got on the horse and motioned for the dog to follow. The two made their way into the distance with only one thought on the girls mind. "Home again, home again." A smile made its way onto Rayne's face as she rode. Nothing felt sweeter than being home again. Nothing felt more complete than being home again.


	2. Fantasy into Reality

_**Second chapter is now uploaded. After this chapter it will run in first person POV. I hate writing in third person sometimes. Especially when I'm writing about a character I made in an RPG. Lol. I do not own the Elder Scroll series. I just play the game.**_

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Chapter 2: Fantasy into Reality.

A few hours out of Windhelm, Rayne decided to rest at a small river on a hill. She got off of the horse and led it over to the water and beckoned it to take a drink. She did the same with Daemon. She then took off her helmet and shook her head to get her hair out of her face.

Rayne took a deep breath through her nose and released it.

She took off her boots and went over to the water. She sat on the edge of the grass and put her feet into the nice cool water. Daemon cheered happily at seeing his mistress in this soft and relaxed state.

Rayne smiled back at her dog and kicked her feet softly churning the water. She leaned back and let the sun bask her skin. She rolled her head to stretch out her neck. She was so tense with all of this armor on. The Companion reached up behind her neck to unclasp her armor, but just as she was about to fiddle with the clasp she heard Daemon growl.

Rayne looked over to where her dog was. He was standing with his back to her and was peeking over the rock. Rayne walked over to where he was to survey the area for the disturbance. She saw a company of Stormcloak soldiers marching down the cobbled road. With them was an Imperial prisoner. Her eyes widened when she saw him bound and gagged. The captures pushed him to hurry up and when he fell, they kicked him. Rayne saw that the man's face was covered in bruises and cuts.

The warrior growled at the mans injured state and also at the fact that these Nords kept beating him while he was down. These were the kinds of people that gave her race a bad name.

She went into a crouching position and went over to her things. Once she found her long bow, she strung it and grabbed a couple of iron arrows. Once Rayne heard her dog growl again she put a finger to her lips to silence him. Daemons ears went back and he laid himself on the ground by the little brook.

Rayne went into position behind the boulder. She set her arrows down on the ground beside her but came up with a single one.

One of the Stormcloaks was still kicking the Imperial soldier. That only made it easier for Rayne to pick her unlucky target. She pulled the string docking the arrow to her chin, breathing in. Right before she released the breath, she released the arrow. It flew and struck the target right in the back of the head.

The Stormcloak fell to the ground face down.

"AMBUSH!" Was heard throughout the plains by the fallen Stormcloaks companions.

Rayne gathered her helm, her sword and shield. As she placed the helm on her head, she heard more men than she had originally anticipated. Through the eyes of the wolf on her helmet, she saw more Imperial soldiers running to their wounded brother. After finding that he was merely unconscious, they attacked.

Rayne had a thought in her head that made her believe she would win this battle against the Nords. 'These bastards don't stand a chance against both me and these Imperials.' A malicious smile grew on her face behind the mask of the wolf. She ran to the soldiers dressed in blue and yellow and blocked a blow from a war hammer. The twinge of pain in her arm was extremely evident as she yelled and gritted her teeth in pain; but she carried on and continued to cut down as many of the Stormcloak soldiers as she could.

All of a sudden, Rayne felt a need to duck. Unfortunately she turned too late and saw another war hammer coming to her head. The helmet took most of the blow. It was knocked from the warriors head. In the chaos of the battle, she took the attacking soldier and a few more of her hide armored enemies.

A few moments later, with the blood of her enemies coating the shining steel of her sword, Rayne felt a sharp pain at the back of her head. It felt like the blow from a sword hilt, and as she went down she thought, 'Lucky shot.' The young Companion looked up and saw Daemon on the hill. She shook her head slightly and whispered for him to run home. He was about to ignore the order and run to aid his mistress but before Rayne's world went dark, she gave him a look that told him to obey and he did.

Once she saw the dog run to the village of Whiterun, she was rolled over on to her back. Her vision was blurry and could not see who was standing over her. The warrior saw the silhouette of a soldier. She lifted her hand for the person to aid her, what came next was not a hand, but another blow to the head from another weapon. That's when everything went black.

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A few hours later, Rayne groggily awoke to find herself bound and riding in a wagon. She sat across from a Stormcloak soldier and gasped when she noticed who was next to her. "Ulfric Stormcloak." She breathed quietly. He was bound as well but also gagged. The Jarl smirked at the disbelief in the girl's voice.

"Well, you're finally awake." Rayne heard a voice coming from in front of her seated position. She turned her head and saw a blonde haired man with scruff covering his face. The man's bright blue eyes shined with defeat and loss; why this was she did not know. Rayne looked into the man's eyes as he spoke to her. "It looks like you walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that horse thief over there." The girls' eyes widened as she realized that this man didn't know that it was she that caused the ambush in the first place. The man took her silence for shame since he didn't speak another word to her. Another man in ragged and torn robes spoke next. "Damn you Stormcloaks. Skyrim was fine until you came along. The Empire was nice and lazy." He sighed before continuing. "If they hadn't been looking for you, I could've stolen that horse and be halfway to Hammerfell."

The thief turned and looked at the young Companion. "You there; you and me-we shouldn't be here. It's these Stormcloaks the empire wants." Rayne thought on the man's statement and found it to be the truth. So why were they there, she wondered.

She heard the soldier laugh. "We're all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief." The driver of the dingy carriage stomped his foot down and yelled to the group. "SHUT UP BACK THERE!" Everything went silent for a moment before the thief spoke again, and this time it was about the Jarl sitting beside her. "What's wrong with him, huh?" The soldier's eyes went dark and his voice went cold. "Watch your tongue, boy!" Rayne could tell by the look on the man's face that he wanted to choke the life from him. "You are speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King." Rayne watched as the horse thief's eyes went wide with fear. "Ulfric? The Jarl of Windhelm? You're the leader of the rebellion." Ulfric nodded his head once at the hidden question. "If they captured you...oh gods where are they taking us?" The blonde man hung his head and spoke his answer. "I don't know where we're going, but Sovengard awaits."

Rayne could hear the horse-thief's heavy breathing in her ear. "No this can't be happening, this isn't happening!" His fear was palpable; she could smell it on him. "What village are you from horse thief?" The blonde across from her asked him. "What do you care?!" He snapped. "A Nord's last thoughts should be of home." The thief hung his head. Rayne thought he was accepting the inevitable. "Rorikstead. I'm from Rorikstead." As the carriage neared the city gates, one of the guards yelled from the catwalk. "General Tullius sir, the headsman is waiting." Then she heard the Imperial leader's gruff voice. "Good let's get this over with." That's when the thief called upon the gods of old. "Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kynareth, Akatosh, Divines, please help me."

A few moments of silence went by, but as they passed through the city gates, the Nord across from her caught a glimpse of the man who would order their execution. "Look at him, General Tullius, the military governor. The Thalmor are with them, I'm sure they had something to do with this." Rayne sent an evil look toward the elven leader who was dressed in regal clothing. She had nothing against the elven people but since the war with the Thalmor, things have been tense with the people of Skyrim. "This is Helgen." The Stormcloak spoke quietly and with realization. "I used to be sweet on a girl here. I wonder if Vilod is still making mead with the juniper berries mixed in." He chuckled a little. "It's funny, when I was a boy, Imperial walls used to make me feel so safe."

They came around a turn and Rayne heard a child speak. "Who are they daddy?" The little one asked referring to they who were strapped in the carriage. "Where are they going?" She watched as the boy's father came out and put a hand on his shoulder. "You need to go inside little cub." The young Companion smiled at the nickname, for her own father called her that when she was young. The boy put up a little resistance but went inside nonetheless. Good, no child should have to witness such violence.

The carriage was coming to a slow stop. "What's happening, why are we stopping?" The man from Rorrikstead asked. "Why do you think? End of the line." The Stormcloak answered. When the carriage came to a complete stop the blonde man spoke again. "Let's go. We don't want to keep the Gods waiting. The horse thief looked like he was going to soil his breeches at any moment. "No! I'm telling you we're not rebels!" He said referring to him and Rayne. "You have to tell them, we weren't with you." He tried to get the man to confess but the soldier only said, "Face your death with some courage thief." The Imperial soldiers put a set of wooden stairs at the end of the carriage so they could step down without tripping.

The four of them stepped down and stood in a single file line. A fellow Nord, who supported the Empire, along with his captain stood in front of them with a list in his hands. The captain spoke. "Step up to the block when we call your name. One at a time!" The four beings from the cart, lined up next to each other and waited for their names to be read off of the list. "The Empire and their damn lists." The soldier next to her replied. "Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm." The man stepped forward and walked to stand with his brothers and sisters in arms.

The blonde man next to the thief spoke respectfully to the man heading to the crowd. "It's been an honor, Jarl Ulfric." Rayne rolled her eyes and thought to herself. 'Bootlicker.' Then the imperial Nord kept reading off of the list. "Ralof of Riverwood." The man Rayne had previously called a bootlicker went to go join the others and stood closest to the Jarl.

"Lokir of Rorikstead." The imperial yelled to the crowd that began to get a little rowdy at this point. The horse thief stepped forward only to break into a run, away from imperials and the execution block. "No, I'm not a rebel, you can't do this!" With his hands bound in front of him he ran fast. "You're not gonna catch me!" He laughed before the captain yelled for her archers to take aim. In no time, the man named Lokir fell to the ground dead with three arrows poised in his back. The imperial captain turned back to the prisoners and asked sarcastically, "Anyone else feel like running?" No one spoke so she gestured for the soldier next to her to keep reading off of the list. "Now who are you?"

Rayne didn't speak for a moment but knew better than to stay silent for too long. "I am a Nord of Whiterun. My name you don't need to know." The soldier shook his head. "You picked a bad time to return home kinsman." He looked to his superior. "Captain we have a problem, she's not on the list." The woman scoffed and replied. "It doesn't matter, she goes to the block with the others." The man looked to Rayne with an apologetic look on his face. Rayne only nodded as if she was at peace with this being her end. She walked to the line of prisoners and waited.

As Rayne walked toward towards the line of prisoners, she looked to the soldiers dressed in blue and gold. They began to holler about their injustice of being executed, about how they were defending their homeland. Rayne just scoffed and shook her head. If the Stormcloaks were trying to defend their homeland, they should've not brought so much unneeded destruction to its people. When she came to the line a red headed solider was called to the headsman block. When the priest of Arkay was requested to give the man's last rights, the soldier just gruffly said, "Shut up and let's get this over with." He stood in front of the pedestal and the imperial captain made him kneel and lay his head down. As the headsman brought up his mighty axe, the man who was about to be executed said one thing. "My ancestors are smiling on me Imperials; can you say the same?" Then the broad-axe came down heavily upon his neck. The man's head gently rolled into the straw basket at the base of the block and his body went limp to the side.

Rayne slightly feared this would be her fate, but she quickly reasoned with herself that she would not die as a traitor. Not if she held the truth tightly in her mind. "Next prisoner. You there in the rags." The captain pointed at Rayne. The imperial soldier once again tried to reason with his captain to try and let the girl go free, but she wasn't having any of it. She grabbed the soldier by the cuff if his uniform and whispered in his ear. "I will not have disobedience in my ranks Hadvar. If you speak one more word out of line, I will make sure you join the others." She then all but threw him to the side and proceeded with the executions. Rayne was next to walk up to the headsman's block. She knelt down and put her head down on the hard stone. Just as she was about to close her eyes and await her death, the ground shook and the sky went dark. It shone a dark purple color and a gigantic figure flew throughout the sky. "WHAT IN OBLIVION IS THAT?!" General Tullius screamed from the ground in front of one of the many towers littering Helgen.

Everyone heard the loud roar ripping from the beasts' mouth. When it landed on the top of the tower, it roared once more and everyone witnessed its power. Rayne picked her body up to a kneeling position as the imperial captain screamed "DRAGON!"

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_**Now, I'm still in the process of taking everything in from the game so if you're patient with me, I will reward all who read this story with good tidings wand epic endings. My love to all :).**_


	3. Power Beyond Recognition

**Here's chapter 3 and the POV change. Hope everything is up to Parr here.**

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Chapter 3: Power Beyond Recognition.

I kneeled there looking into the bright red eyes of the beast before me. Fear ran through my body as I took in his massive size. Never had I seen anything so enormous and fearsome in all of my life. The dragon roared again and it was making comets fall from the sky. They looked to be on fire so I did as best I could to get onto my feet and run to the nearest shelter.

I was bound so it was really hard to move at this point. The ground shook at my feet and it made me lose my balance more than once. I heard voices everywhere. People were screaming in terror. Some were set ablaze by dragon fire, others were crushed by rubble. For a moment I was paralyzed, taking everything around me. Houses were burning. Stones were falling from towers as the dragon wreaked havoc upon this little town. Tears began to well behind my eyes at the suffering of these people.

I was brought out of my reverie by a voice shouting to me. It was a familiar one, the same one I had heard most of the way here. Ralof the Stormcloak soldier called to out and beckoned me to come with him. I looked behind him and saw a large tower door open. This would be my temporary shelter it seemed. Broken bodies littered the floor around me, if they were alive, they wouldn't be for much longer. I turned toward the door to see the Jarl and his soldier standing by the door, barring it.

"Jarl Ulfric, what is that out there? Could the legends be true?!" Ralof asked not really believing the situation.

Ulfric, with his arms crossed answered rather emotionlessly. "Legends don't burn down villages."

I didn't say anything. Comets kept falling as if from the heavens themselves and the ground shook again from the force. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man run up the stairs probably searching for a way out. As if he read my mind Ralof yelled to anyone who would listen.

"We need to find a way out of here!"

He looked to the stairs and pointed to me.

"Up the stairs, quick!" I rolled my eyes at the authority he thought he held over me.

Nonetheless, I took off and ran up the stone steps. I was almost there when I saw the man from before inspecting a pile of rubble. He looked as if he was trying to find a way to move it. A moment later, he large dragons head burst through the stone wall of the tower. It tossed stone and brick toward the man and he jumped back in fear. I stood there motionless, unable to help this man escape his fate. He looked to me with terror in his eyes, begging me to help him. As I felt more tears prick at my eyes, I heard the dragon begin to speak.

"Yol, Tu, Shul!"

The dragon language erupted in a blaze of fire from the beasts' mouth. I tried to run to the man's aid as he was set on fire, but Ralof held me back. I screamed as the body went limp in front of me. There was not skin that wasn't charred by the flame, there was no light that wasn't extinguished by the pain of death.

The dragon flew off without a moment's notice. No doubt to slaughter more people. Once there was no sign of the dragon close to the tower, I ran to the limp body before me. I checked for a pulse although there was no need. Ralof stood behind me looking out of the damaged tower wall.

"Look. There's an inn on the other side."

I went over to his position and saw that there was indeed another building. It was mostly intact except for a large hole in the roof.

"You have to jump to the other side!"

I looked at him as if her were a Hagraven with two heads.

"Are you crazy?!"

I yelled above the sound of the damage being done to the village.

"It's the only way out!" He tried reasoning with me. "Don't worry, the rest of us will find another way down."

I looked down below to see how far the inn was away from the tower. I cringed thinking that this was going to hurt, and with the pain still ebbing in my skull from the weapon hilt, this wasn't going to be pretty.

With my hands in front of me, I walked towards the opposite wall and turned to face my goal. I took a deep breath and ran as fast as I could to the opening. Jumping just at the edge, I found my heart racing, hoping that I would make it to the other side.

It was a hard landing and pain shot up my entire body as I dropped to a knee onto the wooden floor. I couldn't waste any time in trying to escape so I just got up and kept running.

Heading out of the inn, I ran into a pair of men standing by a house right next to my position.

They were calling someone over to them. I took a peek around the wall to see a small boy next to the body of his father. This was no doubt the boy who wanted to know about the soldiers. His father was the one that told him to head inside. He was shaking his father, trying to wake him as if he was sleeping. But it was to no avail. From the sounds of the boys' voice, he was crying as he told the Imperial that he would not leave without his dad. My breath caught in my throat as I heard the desperation in the child's voice.

The huge dragon landed again and the boy ran over to the soldier and an old man I was standing with.

"Tolfdir, no." The soldier said quietly and looked to the old man. He said to look after the boy and was going to find General Tullius. As he turned to leave, he looked to me and was surprised I was there. He looked as if he didn't notice me there at all for the past ten minutes.

Another roar sounded in the sky. That shook the man from his thoughts. He looked up to the large shadow looming above them. "Stay with me if you want to stay alive prisoner!"

I rolled my eyes again for the second time that day as someone tried to give me a command. I showed him my bound hands to tell him that I would be stupid to run. Regardless of my training, there was no way I was going to survive today on my own without these bounds cut.

We ran as fast as we could through the damaged courtyard, constantly dodging debris and rubble littering the ground. We came up to a large stone wall. The ground shook as the dragon landed on top of it. The man pushed me flat against the wall as I hear three terrifying words spring from the dragon once more.

"Yol, Tu, Shul!"

Fire erupted once again and I heard screaming ahead of us. I imagined another poor soul being set ablaze, waiting to die in a most painful way. I shook with both terror and anger directed towards the dragon. Why was this happening? I didn't understand. Were the stories true? Ralof asked the same question to his Jarl not twenty minutes ago. I twisted my wrists trying to alleviate some of the discomfort caused by the rope.

"Come on. We need to hurry."

I peeled myself from the wall and began hurrying along behind the soldier.

A group of archers and mages were taking the fight to the beast as they tried pelting him with both magic and arrows. The situation was out of our hands as it seemed as we continued our way to the fortress. Expletives were thrown at the dragon as the archers missed their target and the mages' magicka had no effect on his hide.

I watched as the beast flew overhead and gripped an Imperial archer in his talons. My eyes went wide as he flew high into the air with the person in his clutches and when he dropped his prey the scream could be heard for miles.

Just as body finally fell to the ground, I saw Ralof coming from another part of the village.

"Ralof, you damn traitor! Out of our way!"

Ralof seemed to smile at the animosity in the opposing soldier's voice. He took one look at me and spoke. "We're escaping Hadvar. There's no stopping us this time." Then he ran off to another door in the walls of the keep.

The soldier known as Hadvar looked behind him and with a pleading look in his eye, he said. "Follow me prisoner. We'll get out of here." For some odd reason I trusted this man. He had kind eyes and tried to speak for me before they made the decision to execute me. I moved my wrists again as they began to itch, and I nodded my head. Hadvar ran to the nearest door as another bolder was falling from the sky. He reached out and grabbed my binds to pull me inside before it fell on my position.

My eyes went wide taking the carnage in. The soldier's arms wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me from my thoughts, and guided me inside the Keep. There was no going back. We had to escape.


End file.
